Hasil untuk "Environmental law"

Menkes Jerzy, Menkes Marcin

M. Matsushita, T. Schoenbaum, P. Mavroidis et al.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of the most important intergovernmental organizations in the world, yet the way in which it functions as an organization and the scope of its authority and power are still poorly understood. This revised new edition provides a complete overview of the law and practice of the WTO. The chapters begin with the institutional law of the WTO (such as the sources of law and remedies of the dispute settlement system), then tackle the principal substantive obligations of the WTO regime (including tariffs, quotas, and MFN). They then move on to consider unfair trade, regional trading arrangements, and developing countries. In its final section the book deals with the consequences of globalization: firstly, where free trade is seen to be incompatible with environmental protection and, secondly, where WTO law confronts legal regimes governing issues of competition and intellectual property.

W. Warren, B. Kay, Wendy D. Zosh et al.

F. Carmo, L. Kamino, Rogério Tobias Junior et al.

Abstract After the collapse of the Fundao dam, 43 million m 3 of iron ore tailings continue to cause environmental damage, polluting 668 km of watercourses from the Doce River to the Atlantic Ocean. The objectives of this study are to characterize the Fundao Tailings Dam and structural failures; improve the understanding of the scale of the disaster; and assess the largest technological disaster in the global context of tailings dam failures. The collapse of Fundao was the biggest environmental disaster of the world mining industry, both in terms of the volume of tailings dumped and the magnitude of the damage. More than year after the tragedy, Samarco has still not carried out adequate removal, monitoring or disposal of the tailings, contrary to the premise of the total removal of tailings from affected rivers proposed by the country's regulatory agencies and the worldwide literature on post-disaster management. Contrary to expectations, there was a setback in environmental legal planning, such as law relaxation, decrease of resources for regulatory agencies and the absence of effective measures for environmental recovery. It is urgent to review how large-scale extraction of minerals is carried out, the technical and environmental standards involved, and the oversight and monitoring of the associated structures.

Fauziah Shahul Hamid, Mehran Sanam Bhatti, Norkhairiyah Anuar et al.

The widespread occurrence of microplastic has invaded the environment to an extent that it appears to be present throughout the globe. This review investigated the global abundance and distribution of microplastics in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Furthermore, the issues and challenges have been addressed for better findings in microplastics studies. Findings revealed that the accumulation of microplastics varies geographically, with locations, hydrodynamic conditions, environmental pressure, and time. From this review, it is crucial that proper regulations are proposed and implemented in order to reduce the occurrence of microplastics in the aquatic environment. Without appropriate law and regulations, microplastic pollution will eventually threaten human livelihood.

GuanHao Sun, Xingyu Zhang, Yen-Chiang Chang

Climate change has become a globally significant issue of widespread concern in the international community, with anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions being recognized as the primary driver. As a major emitter, China has announced its goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. In this context, addressing carbon emissions from marine sectors, particularly fishing vessels, has become an important but underexplored aspect of climate governance.This study adopts a normative legal analysis combined with policy analysis to examine the existing regulatory framework governing carbon emissions from China’s marine fishing vessels. Relevant international climate law instruments, domestic environmental and fisheries legislation, and current administrative practices are systematically reviewed.The analysis reveals that China currently faces several institutional challenges in regulating fishing vessel carbon emissions, including the absence of specialized legislation, fragmented regulatory responsibilities among multiple authorities, incomplete emissions data systems, and insufficient financial and technical support mechanisms.To address these challenges, this study recommends strengthening dedicated legislation and policy frameworks, clarifying regulatory mandates, establishing a nationally unified carbon emissions database for fishing vessels, improving the marine fisheries transfer payment system, and implementing a “dual control” policy on fishing vessel scale and energy consumption, thereby promoting the low-carbon transformation of China’s marine fisheries sector.

R. Lazarus

D. Hering, Christian Schürings, Franziska Wenskus et al.

The EU law would complement many others, but challenges loom In an attempt to halt and reverse biodiversity losses, the European Commission has proposed a new regulation, the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). It could become a cornerstone of Europe’s ambitions to restore biodiversity and ecosystem services for decades to come (1) and demonstrate global leadership in addressing ongoing environmental crises. The draft of the law, which is a first globally, has been under political pressure from various sides, and scientists have contributed intensively to the discussion (2). After trilogue negotiations among the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission, the final text of the NRL has been agreed on (see the box). However, it will still be subject to final votes within the Council and Parliament. Here, we assess the potential for the NRL to overcome problems associated with implementation of related European Union (EU) legislation, strategies, and policies and what can be learned for implementation of the NRL.

Ulya Yasmine Prisandani

Greenwashing, the practice of making false or exaggerated environmental claims to deceive consumers, has emerged as a pressing issue in various industries. This study explores the legal implications of greenwashing under Indonesian law, particularly its impact on the validity of contracts. Utilizing a normative legal research methodology, this paper examines the gap in Indonesian regulations regarding greenwashing, highlighting its connection to deceptive marketing and contractual fraud. According to the Indonesian Civil Code, contracts are only valid if there is mutual consent between the parties. Greenwashing, by distorting the truth about a product or service's environmental impact, undermines this essential element of consensus, potentially rendering contracts voidable. This research draws parallels between greenwashing and contractual fraud, explaining how deceptive claims can mislead parties, disrupting their agreement and affecting the contract’s legitimacy. Furthermore, the paper analyzes how greenwashing can be classified as fraud under the Indonesian Criminal Code, with implications for both civil and criminal liability. Despite the lack of specific regulations addressing greenwashing, the study proposes that its deceptive nature should be treated as a distinct legal issue, separate from general fraud. It also emphasizes the need for legal reforms to protect consumers and ensure that companies are held accountable for their environmental claims. The study concludes by advocating for stricter regulations and oversight mechanisms to mitigate the environmental and financial harm caused by greenwashing in Indonesia.

muhamad Pelengkahu

Sea-level rise constitutes a pressing challenge for Indonesia, a nation acutely vulnerable due to its archipelagic geography. This article employs a normative legal research method to critically examine Indonesia’s legal and policy framework for addressing these impacts, with a particular attention to the intersection of social protection and sustainable water governance. The study analyzes the coherence and implementation of key statutes, including Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, Law No. 17 of 2019 on Water Resources, Law No. 24 of 2007 on Disaster Management, and Law No. 40 of 2004 on the National Social Security System, as well as relevant development plans and international commitments. By systematically interpreting these instruments in relation to constitutional mandates and empirical vulnerability data, the analysis reveals persistent fragmentation that undermines Indonesia’s adaptive capacity. Specifically, the findings demonstrate a disjunction between social protection and climate adaptation, alongside water governance frameworks that remain under-equipped to address slow-onset hazards such as salinity intrusion, groundwater depletion, and permanent inundation. This gap results in inadequate legal and institutional safeguards for vulnerable coastal populations, including displaced communities and informal workers. Based on these findings, the article argues for the codification of a unified Climate Resilience and Social Protection Law that integrates sustainable water governance. Such a law would embed climate justice and constitutional rights within a cohesive governance framework, ensuring a more equitable and resilient national response to the unprecedented challenges posed by sea-level rise.

Stanojević Petra

The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees the right to a healthy environment, while the Law on Contracts and Torts leaves room for compensation for non-pecuniary damage arising from the violation of personal rights. The paper analyzes whether the right to a healthy environment is considered a personal right, what constitutes its violation, and whether a lawsuit for compensation for non-pecuniary damage arising from the violation of this right is the most effective mechanism for protecting the rights of persons endangered by pollution.

Gerardo Figueredo-Medina

El derecho de propiedad es de central importancia en el liberalismo económico, en la medida que permite la generación de utilidades y de más capital, el cual beneficia al Estado vía impuestos. Las actividades económicas por la globalización se desarrollan en múltiples Estados, por lo cual los sistemas jurídicos han creado garantías a inversionistas extranjeros para protegerlos de posibles expropiaciones. Llevar los Estados a instancias internacionales para responsabilizarlos por actos expropiatorios, ha generado una casuística internacional para limitar la procedencia de estos eventos, a la vez que ha generado pautas muy definidas sobre cómo debe ser el comportamiento de los Estados en el ejercicio de sus competencias. No obstante, estos criterios tan estrictos de protección a extranjeros y altas exigencias de calidad y actuar estatales para garantizar la propiedad, para los ciudadanos del correspondiente Estado las circunstancias pueden ser muy distintas, porque hay mayor amplitud estatal para el cambio de reglas de juego. El presente documento ilustra con el repaso de casos internacionales de ‘eventos expropiatorios’, cómo bajo estos parámetros Colombia parece en efecto ser menos garantista con sus ciudadanos, en torno a propiedad y activos de los habitantes del territorio. Entre la revisión de los casos internacionales de la práctica arbitral y el contexto colombiano, un balance estatal, surgen cuestionamientos a si hay protección de la propiedad o una expropiación progresiva de los habitantes bajo criterios que la práctica internacional ha aceptado como legítimos para cambios regulatorios y gravámenes a la propiedad, como lo es la causa medio ambiental.

Lifang Zhang, Mingjian Yu, Yanming Fang

Abstract Functional traits are important in understanding how plants respond and adapt to their immediate environment. Parrotia subaequalis is a highly endangered arbor species found throughout eastern China, primarily inhabiting hillsides and valleys, yet, little is known about the variation in leaf traits across these environments. In the present study, we tested this by comparing leaf surface area, leaf weight, leaf length, leaf symmetry and leaf mass per unit area, as well as the relationship between leaf traits and environmental factors and the scaling relationship between leaf surface area versus leaf dry mass. We observed significant differences in leaf surface area, weight, and length among the population sites, and these variables were strongly affected by environmental factors, especially high mean annual temperatures in hillside habitats and high mean annual precipitation in valley habitats. The scaling exponents remained numerically variant among the 10 populations, with different slopes greater than 1.0, and the scaling exponents increased significantly with hillside habitats. These metrics correlated with soil thickness associated with different habitat types. The areal ratio (AR) values in all populations deviated from 1, indicating that the two lamina sides were asymmetrical. The standardized symmetry index (SI) values displayed significant variation, especially in leaves from hillside habitats with a high degree of asymmetry. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that leaf functional traits exhibit considerable variability in response to different environmental contexts and provide valuable reference data that could be useful for conserving this endangered species.

Bilgin Karaoğlan, Abdulrahim T. Alkassab, Shannon Borges et al.

Abstract Biopesticides have received increasing global attention as environmentally friendly alternatives, allowing for more sustainable pest and disease control. In order to be registered or authorized for use, safety studies need to be submitted for regulatory risk assessments. However, it has been frequently reported that, in particular, microbial pesticides have a number of challenges when it comes to non-target organism testing. For instance, study results from such tests are often difficult to interpret or they lack consistency and accuracy. Reasons for this can be found firstly in the heterogeneity and resulting complexity of microbe-based pesticides comprising different taxonomic groups (e.g., bacteria, fungi, and viruses), and secondly in the lack of appropriate guidance for testing these different microbial agents considering their unique biological properties. The present review gives an overview of the available test guidelines by reflecting the current regulatory background in the area of environmental risk assessment of microbial pesticides and describes general and specific issues associated with safety studies on terrestrial vertebrates, aquatic organisms, bees, non-target arthropods other than bees, meso- and macro-organisms in soil, and non-target terrestrial plants. Proposals for improvement of existing test guidelines or guidance documents are provided and further discussed.

Hafiza Hira Iqbal, Ayesha Siddique, Abdul Qadir et al.

Abstract Background With rapid industrial development, heavy metal contamination has become a major public health and ecological concern worldwide. Although knowledge about metal pollution in European water resources is increasing, monitoring data and assessments in developing countries are rare. In order to protect human health and aquatic ecosystems, it is necessary to investigate heavy metal content and its consequences to human health and ecology. Accordingly, we collected 200 water samples from different water resources including groundwater, canals, river and drains, and investigated metal contamination and its implications for human and ecological health. This is the first comprehensive study in the region that considered all the water resources for metal contamination and associated human health and ecological risks together. Results Here we show that the water resources of Lahore (Pakistan) are highly contaminated with metals, posing human and ecological health risks. Approximately 26% of the groundwater samples are unsuitable for drinking and carry the risk of cancer. Regarding dermal health risks, groundwater, canal, river, and drain water respectively showed 40%, 74%, 80%, and 90% of samples exceeding the threshold limit of the health risk index (HRI > 1). Regarding ecological risks, almost all the water samples exceeded the chronic and acute threshold limits for algae, fish, and crustaceans. Only 42% of groundwater samples were below the acute threshold limits. In the case of pollution index, 72%, 56%, and 100% of samples collected from canals, river Ravi, and drains were highly contaminated. Conclusions In conclusion, this comprehensive study shows high metal pollution in water resources and elucidates that human health and aquatic ecosystems are at high risk. Therefore, urgent and comprehensive measures are imperative to mitigate the escalating risks to human health and ecosystems.

Mingge Han, Ruifeng Cui, Yupeng Cui et al.

Abstract Background Flavonols play important roles in antioxidation and anticancer activities, longevity, and cardiovascular protection. Flavonol synthase (FLS) is a key enzyme for flavonol synthesis. Result Phenotypic, transcriptional and metabolic data were analyzed, which showed that there was a close relationship between salt stress and flavonoids, and flavonols were significantly upregulated under salt stress. Nine, seven, four, and four FLS genes were identified in Gossypium hirsutum, Gossypium barbadense, Gossypium arboreum, and Gossypium raimondii, respectively. The results of subcellular localization showed that FLS existed in the nucleus and cytoplasmic. Through phylogenetic analysis, 24 FLS genes were divided into three subfamilies. The results of the RNA sequencing showed that the expression of GhFLS genes was mainly induced by salt, drought, low temperature, and heat stress. GhFLS promoter mainly comprised plant hormone response elements and abiotic stress elements, indicating that the GhFLS gene may play a key role in abiotic stress response. The proline contents of pYL156:GhFLS1 was reduced significantly compared to pYL156 under salt stress, thereby reducing the resistance of cotton to salt stress. Conclusion This study will lay a foundation for further study on the antioxidant regulation mechanism of the FLS gene under abiotic stress.

Zhijie Han, Yuwei Wang, Jing Pang

Green merger and acquisition (Green M&A) is one of the ways of corporate environmental investment, which is vital for their green transformation and sustainable development. With the implementation of the newly revised Environmental Protection Law in 2015, this paper investigates the impact of environmental regulation on corporate green M&A using the Difference-in-Difference method with a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2020. We found that firms’ green M&A increases significantly after the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law. The promotion effect is more pronounced when the firm is state-owned or faces lower financing constraints. Further analysis reveals that green M&A significantly reduces firms’ environmental management costs, enhances green innovation, and has no effect on market performance. This result confirms that after the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law, companies engage in green M&A for cost and innovation motives rather than market motives.

Daniel Bonilla Maldonado, Ralph Michaels, Patricia Zalamea Fajardo

Silviyah A’delina, Endang Sutrisno, Alip Rahman et al.

The existence of human life is very dependent on environmental conditions. Thus the environment has an important role in the survival of the community. However, humans need an effort as an effort to maintain life. The existence of micro, small and medium enterprises (Usaha Mikro, Kecil, dan Menengah/UMKM) is the largest part of the national economy. In Cirebon Regency itself there are still economic activities that cause air pollution. How is the implementation of the policy of the Cirebon Regional Government in an effort to overcome air pollution based on the scale of micro, small and medium enterprises based on Law Number 32 of 2009 and what is the implementation of sanctions by the Regional Government of Cirebon in overcoming air pollution. The purpose of this study is to determine the policies and implementation of sanctions carried out by the Cirebon Regency Government in overcoming air pollution. This research method is a normative juridical research, through a law approach and then described in an analytical descriptive manner. Regional Government of Cirebon carries out an environmental pollution program to tackle air pollution through two major sub-districts, namely first measuring air quality to find sources of pollution, second controlling pollution and environmental damage. The application of sanctions by the Environmental Service to perpetrators of air pollution has not yet resulted in criminal sanctions because they do not yet have an Environmental Supervisory Officer. Sanctions carried out by the Office are administrative sanctions or commonly called reprimands. Regional government of Cirebon requires business owners to have UKL-UPL permits which are used as the basis for environmental permits. The government is also obliged to protect the environment in the regional of Cirebon.

Damian Weekers, Gohar Petrossian, Lauric Thiault

Abstract Protected Areas (PAs) are spatially representative management tools that impose various levels of protection for conservation purposes. As spatially regulated places, ensuring compliance with the rules represents a key element of effective management and positive conservation outcomes. Wildlife crime, and in particular poaching, is a serious global problem that undermines the success of PAs. This study applies a socio-ecological approach to understanding the opportunity structure of illegal recreational fishing (poaching) in no-take zones in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. We use Boosted Regression Trees to predict the spatio-temporal distribution of poaching risk within no-take Marine National Park zones. The results show that five risk factors account for nearly three quarters (73.6%) of the relative importance for poaching in no-take zones and that temporally varying conditions influence risk across space. We discuss these findings through the theoretical lens of Environmental Criminology and suggest that law enforcement strategies focus on reducing the negative outcomes associated with poaching by limiting the opportunity of would-be offenders to undertake illegal activity.